Immigration Detention Centers See Repeated Hunger Strikes and Sit-Ins Across the U.S.

Across the United States, immigration detainees are repeatedly resorting to hunger strikes and sit-ins to highlight inadequate food, unsafe water, denied medication and harsh solitary confinement. At Dilley Detention Center in Texas, a hunger strike attracted roughly 100 participants, while a September 2025 sit-in lasted two weeks. In Louisiana’s Camp 57, immigrants confined in solitary cells organized a hunger strike over “childlike” food portions and lack of commissary access.

Researchers and activists note that such protests have a long history, dating back to a 1985 hunger strike with about 300 participants at El Centro Detention Facility. Organizations like the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and La Resistencia document dozens of these actions each year, emphasizing that many go unreported unless they involve large numbers.